Communicator of the Week: Tinder and the NHS

17th December 2015 Blog 1 minute read

Used by all of us at some point or another, much maligned by some, lauded towards sainthood by others, the National Health Service is rarely out of the news and everyone has an opinion. Despite its high profile and awareness in the public consciousness the NHS is not seen to be much of an innovator when it comes to communications. Until now.

Being happily married I’ve never been on Tinder but am aware of the dating app and its simple user interface of swiping one way or the other depending on if you like the suggested person or not. Working in partnership with Tinder, the NHS is using the app to raise awareness about organ donations. A simple but effective idea: people who swipe on some profiles on the app will be encouraged to sign up to the NHS organ donor register.

To do this Tinder has created bespoke profiles for a range of celebs, sports stars and actors whose Tinder profiles will feature The Wait logo which draws attention to the importance of organ donations. If members swipe they get a message saying “If only it was that easy for those in need of a life-saving organ to find a match.” Nicely thought provoking as well as a simple message, this was picked up by a large number of media outlets and did the job in raising the profile of this important campaign.

I’m happy to do my small part too and celebrate this great, innovative partnership between Tinder and the NHS and make them jointly my Communicator of the Week.